Information processing apparatus for reproducing metadata and method, program, and recording medium

ABSTRACT

A system and method to protect uniquely extended metadata by others, while maintaining compatibility of metadata. An information processing apparatus determines if items included in entered metadata are defined in advance, and reproduces only items that are included in the metadata and determined as defined in advance, and rewrites or transfers the entered metadata when the metadata is rewritten or transferred.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority from Japanese Priority Document No.2003-182000, filed on Jun. 26, 2003 with the Japanese Patent Office,which document is hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus andmethod, a program, and a recording medium, and more particularly to aninformation processing apparatus and method, a program, and a recordingmedium that allow the user to search for or edit data such as a video,more easily.

2. Description of the Related Art

Recently, more and more metadata, in which information on filmed videomaterial data (hereinafter also called as material data) is described,is used in the production field of video work such as a TV program andvideo contents. Such metadata refers to data used to search for or editmaterial data.

To effectively utilize such metadata, it is necessary for the metadatato have compatibility among a plurality of apparatuses used in theproduction of a video work so that a video signal reproducing apparatussuch as an editing apparatus can use metadata generated by a videosignal recording apparatus such as a video camera.

To achieve this, the metadata description format has been standardizedto ensure the consistency of the description format and the meaning ofmetadata. For example, in MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) 7, moreversatile XML (extensible Markup Language) is used for describingmetadata to standardize the format of metadata.

However, in spite of an effort to standardize metadata, the concept andthe object differ, in practice, among manufacturers that manufacture andsell video signal recording apparatuses and video signal reproducingapparatuses, and therefore, there is a possibility that manufacturersuniquely extend and describe metadata.

Although metadata maybe uniquely extended by each manufacturer in MPEG 7as described above, the definition of metadata extended by somemanufacturer is not regulated. Therefore, the problem is that metadataincluding the contents extended by some manufacturer is deleted orchanged by the apparatus of some other manufacturer that does not knowthe extension.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of this situation, the present invention is provided to protectuniquely extended metadata by others, while maintaining compatibility ofmetadata.

An information processing apparatus according to the present inventionis characterized by comprising determination means for determining ifitems included in entered metadata are defined in advance, reproducingmeans for reproducing only items that are included in the metadata anddetermined as defined in advance by the determination means, and controlmeans for rewriting or transferring the entered metadata when themetadata is rewritten or transferred.

The metadata can be described using XML.

The determination means can determine if an item included in themetadata is defined in advance based on whether or not a name spaceidentifier described in the metadata is defined in a schema owned by theinformation processing apparatus.

The metadata may be made to be non-real-time metadata that is not alwaysrequired to be read at the same time with the reproduction of thematerial data.

An information processing method according to the present invention ischaracterized by comprising a determination step for determining ifitems included in entered metadata are defined in advance, a reproducingstep for reproducing only items that are included in the metadata anddetermined as defined in advance by the processing of the determinationstep, and a control step for rewriting or transferring the enteredmetadata when the metadata is rewritten or transferred.

A program according to the present invention is characterized by causinga computer to execute processing comprising a determination step fordetermining if items included in entered metadata are defined inadvance, a reproducing step for reproducing only items that are includedin the metadata and determined as defined in advance by the processingof the determination step, and a control step for rewriting ortransferring the entered metadata when the metadata is rewritten ortransferred.

A program recorded on a recording medium according to the presentinvention is characterized by comprising a determination step fordetermining if items included in entered metadata are defined inadvance, a reproducing step for reproducing only items that are includedin the metadata and determined as defined in advance by the processingof the determination step, and a control step for rewriting ortransferring the entered metadata when the metadata is rewritten ortransferred.

According to the information processing apparatus, method, and programaccording to the present invention, only the items included in theentered metadata and determined as defined in advance are reproduced.When the entered metadata is rewritten or transferred, the metadata isrewritten or transferred.

Some embodiments of the present invention will be described below. Thecorrespondence between the constituent features described in the claimsand the examples of the embodiments of the invention is exemplified asfollows. This description is to confirm that the examples supporting theinvention described in the claims are described in the embodiments.Therefore, even if there is an example that is described in theembodiments of the invention but is not described here as the onecorresponding to a constituent feature, that does not mean that theexample does not correspond to the constituent feature. Conversely, evenif an example is described here as the one corresponding to aconstituent feature, that does not mean that the example does notcorrespond to a constituent feature other than the constituent feature.

In addition, this description does not mean that the inventionscorresponding to the examples described in the embodiments of theinvention are all included in the claims. In other words, thisdescription does not deny that there is an invention that corresponds toan example described in the embodiments of the invention and but is notdescribed in the claims of this application, that is, does not denythere is an invention that will be applied as a divisional applicationor added as an amendment in future

The correspondence between the constituent features, which are claimedin the claims of the program according to the present invention and theprogram recorded on the recording medium according to the presentinvention, and the examples in the embodiments of the invention is thesame as that of the information processing method of the presentinvention described above and therefore its description is omitted.

As described above, the present invention allows the user to easilysearch for and edit data such as videos.

In addition, the present invention can protect metadata uniquelyextended by others while maintaining metadata compatibility.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a videoprogram production support system to which the present invention isapplied;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the internalconfiguration of an editing terminal apparatus in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are schematic diagrams showing an example of theconfiguration of data recorded on an optical disc in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a directory structure formanaging data using a file system;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the more detailedconfiguration of the directory structure shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the more detainedconfiguration of the directory structure shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of standard XML-coded real timemetadata before being encoded into BiM;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of non-standard XML-coded realtime metadata before being encoded into BiM;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing processing for describing standard realtime metadata before being encoded into BiM;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing processing for describing non-standardreal time metadata before being encoded into BiM;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the read processing of BiM using a uniqueschema; and

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the read processing of non-real-timemetadata including unique items;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the rewrite/transfer processing ofnon-real-time metadata including unique items.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described belowwith reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of the configuration of a video programproduction support system to which the present invention is applied.This video program production support system 1 is such a system, forexample, used in a television broadcast station that broadcaststelevision signals, or a video content production company that producesvideo contents such as a video or a movie, and also is such a systemthat produces video programs such as television programs or video worksuch as movies. The video program production support system 1 isdesigned to allow a plurality of departments which shares the productionof a video program, to consistently use metadata configured in theelectronic file format and added to the video program, and is a systemfor creating a video program efficiently.

The video program production support system 1 comprises a planningterminal apparatus 11 for planning a video program, a network 12 towhich the planning terminal apparatus 11 is connected, a news gatheringterminal apparatus 13 connected to the network 12, an imaging apparatus14 and a field PC/PDA (Personal Computer/Personal Digital Assistants) 15(hereinafter called a field PC 15) that constitute the news gatheringterminal apparatus 13, an editing terminal apparatus 16 also connectedto the network 12, and an optical disc 17 that is a recording medium.

The planning terminal apparatus 11 composed, for example, of aninformation processing apparatus such as a personal computer and itsperipherals is installed in a plan managing department responsible forplanning a video program. This plan managing department, which is adepartment responsible for the general management of video programproduction, plans and develops an idea for a video program to beproduced, creates the scenario (outline) of the video program and, atthe same time, gives production work content instructions to otherdepartment such as the news gathering department and the editingdepartment that will be described later.

For example, the planning terminal apparatus 11 creates configurationtable metadata in the electronic file format, including productioninstruction information corresponding to the scenario of a videoprogram, for each video program. The planning terminal apparatus 11supplies the created configuration table metadata to the news gatheringterminal apparatus 13 and so on via the network 12. In response, theplan managing department gives the news gathering department aninstruction about the scenes and the contents to be gathered or filmed.

The news gathering terminal apparatus 13, a group of terminalapparatuses to be used by the news gathering department that gathersnews, is composed of the imaging apparatus 14 and the field PC 15. Thisnews gathering department, which is, for example, a department thatactually gathers news in a production site according to a productioninstruction or a scenario from the plan managing department, films thevideo of the scenes constituting a video program and, at the same time,gathers the news about the situation the scenes are filmed.

The imaging apparatus 14 composed of a video camera such as Camcorder(registered trade mark) is an apparatus used for gathering the news of abroadcast news program and for filming the video contents of a sportgame and a movie. This imaging apparatus 14 is connected to the network12, and obtains configuration table metadata, for example, from theplanning terminal apparatus 11 via the network 12. The imaging apparatus14 displays thus obtained configuration table metadata on apredetermined display unit so that a filming staff such as a cameramanis able to confirm the contents to be filmed. The imaging apparatus 14is operated by the filming staff to film the scenes constituting a videoprogram based on the production instruction information included in theobtained configuration table metadata. The imaging apparatus 14 recordsthe image data and the audio data obtained through filming onto arecording medium such as the optical disc 17.

The imaging apparatus 14 can record not only original image data thatis, for example, image data obtained through imaging but also lowresolution image data (hereinafter called low resolution data) onto theoptical disc 17. The original image data has large data amount, but ishigh quality image data used for the finished product of a videoprogram. On the other hand, the low resolution data generated byreducing the number of pixels of each frame of the original image datais the image data corresponding to the image of a frame having a smallernumber of pixels. In addition, the low resolution data may also beencoded, for example, in the MPEG4 format. This low resolution data,though it is lower in image quality as compared with that of theoriginal image data, is small in the data amount. Therefore, the load ofthe transmission and reproducing processing is low and is used primarilyfor coarse editing.

The optical disc 17 on which image data and audio data are written bythe imaging apparatus 14 is transported to, and used in the editingdepartment or the field PC 15 which will be described later. However,because the transportation of the optical disc 17 requires some amountof time, the imaging apparatus 14 may be configured to be able to supplythe video contents to the planning terminal apparatus 11, field PC 15,or editing terminal apparatus 16 via the network 12. In this case, toreduce the transfer time (to reduce the load of the transferprocessing), it is desirable for the imaging apparatus 14 to supply thelow resolution data having a smaller data amount corresponding to theimage data, instead of the image data having a larger data amountobtained through imaging.

The transfer processing of the low resolution data by the imagingapparatus 14 may be performed in any timing, that is, it may beperformed in parallel with the imaging processing or at a time after thetermination of the imaging processing.

Transferring the low resolution data in this way allows the editingdepartment to start the editing work in an earlier stage (for example,in parallel with the imaging processing) before the transportation ofthe optical disc 17 even if the transported optical disc 17 does not yetarrive, thus increasing the production efficiency of a video program.When the low resolution data is transmitted via the network 12 asdescribed above, the imaging apparatus 14 may also record only theoriginal image data and audio data onto the optical disc 17 (withoutwriting low resolution data on the optical disc 17).

The recording media on which the imaging apparatus 14 records videocontents is not limited to the optical disc 17 shown in the example butmay be any recording medium. For example, the recording medium may be amagnetic disk including a flexible disk, a magnetic tape used for a DV(Digital Video) or a VHS (Video Home System), or a semiconductor memoryincluding a flash memory.

The field PC 15 is configured, for example, of a portable informationprocessing apparatus such as a notebook personal computer or a PDA, andits peripherals. The field PC 15 connected to the imaging apparatus 14through various wired or wireless transmission lines can share theconfiguration table metadata, the video contents, and soon with theimaging apparatus 14.

The field PC 15 obtains the configuration table metadata from theplanning terminal apparatus 11 or the configuration table metadata fromthe imaging apparatus 14 via the network 12. The field PC 15 displaysthe obtained configuration table metadata on a predetermined displayunit for a person in the news gathering department to confirm thecontents to be collected or filmed.

In addition, the field PC 15 generates filming situation information,which is information on the new-gathering and filming situation, basedon an input from a user who is a news gathering department person incharge and adds the generated filming situation information to theremarks column of the configuration table metadata. This filmingsituation information, for example, text data describing each take ornews-gathering site from various viewpoints, is information useful forthe editing processing that will be described later. In this way, thefield PC 15 edits the configuration table metadata by writing thefilming situation information. The field PC 15 also supplies the filmingsituation information to the imaging apparatus 14 as the metadata to addthe metadata to the image data or the audio data obtained by the imagingapparatus 14.

The editing terminal apparatus 16 composed, for example, of aninformation processing apparatus such as a personal computer and itsperipherals is installed in the editing department where video contentsare edited. The editing department edits the image data and the audiodata obtained by the imaging apparatus 14 based on a productioninstruction or a scenario from the plan managing department or on theconfiguration table metadata reflecting the news-gathering situation inthe news gathering department, and completes the video program.

The editing terminal apparatus 16 obtains the updated configurationtable metadata or the low resolution data from the imaging apparatus 14via the network 12. The editing terminal apparatus 16 also reproducesthe original image data or audio data from the optical disc 17 on whichthe image data or the audio data are written by the imaging apparatus14. In addition, the editing terminal apparatus 16 can obtain aproduction instruction directly from the planning terminal apparatus 11via the network 12.

The editing terminal apparatus 16 advantageously reproduces and displaysthe obtained video content data based on the configuration tablemetadata obtained as described above. For example, the editing terminalapparatus 16 is operated by the user to continuously displays the lowresolution data, obtained via the network 12, and the original imagedata and audio data, recorded on the optical disc 17, according to thesequence described in the scenario or to display only the image data ofa desired clip. When the original image data written on the optical disc17 is reproduced, the editing terminal apparatus 16 uses a diskapparatus that is a read/write apparatus that reads data from theoptical disc 17 or writes data on the optical disc 17.

The editing terminal apparatus 16 not only reproduces and displays therequired image data in a preferred sequence based on the configurationtable metadata, but also edits the image data obtained as a result ofnews gathering. This editing processing includes coarse editingprocessing and actual editing processing.

Coarse editing processing is simple editing processing for image dataand audio data. For example, during the coarse editing, when the editingterminal apparatus 16 obtains multiple units of data (hereinafter calledclip data) corresponding to a clip, which is a unit indicating oneimaging processing, and concerning a video content including image dataand audio data, the editing terminal apparatus 16 selects clip data tobe used for actual editing from the clip data, selects a necessary videoportion from the selected clip data (Logging), sets the edit startposition (Edit-In point) and the edit end position (Edit-Out point)corresponding to the selected video portion using, for example, a timecode, and extracts (Ingesting) the corresponding portion from the clipdata described above.

A clip is a unit indicating not only one imaging processing but also aunit indicating the time from the start to the end of the imagingprocessing, a unit indicating the length of various data obtainedthrough the imaging processing, and a unit indicating the data amount ofvarious data obtained through the imaging processing. In addition, aclip sometimes indicates the aggregate of the various data.

Actual editing processing refers to processing that assembles each clipdata for which coarse editing processing is performed, performs finalimage adjustment to the image data, and creates a finished package datathat is the data used for broadcasting in a program.

Each of the planning terminal apparatus 11, imaging apparatus 14, fieldPC 15, and editing terminal apparatus 16 described above may beconfigured by a plurality of apparatuses. For example, image dataobtained by a plurality of imaging apparatuses 14 may be obtained by oneediting terminal apparatus 16 via the optical disc 17 or the network 12for performing editing processing for the data. Also, the data suppliedby one imaging apparatus 14 may be edited by a plurality of editingterminal apparatuses 16.

Conversely, although each of the planning terminal apparatus 11, imagingapparatus 14, field PC 15, and editing terminal apparatus 16 describedabove is an independent apparatus in the above description, theembodiment is not limited to this configuration, instead, a part or thewhole of the functions of the apparatuses may be integrated.

In addition to the planning terminal apparatus 11, imaging apparatus 14,field PC 15, and editing terminal apparatus 16 described above, a centerserver (not shown) connected to the network 12 may be provided in thevideo program production support system 1 to configure a client/serversystem where the planning terminal apparatus 11, imaging apparatus 14,field PC 15, and editing terminal apparatus 16 are clients.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the detailed configuration of the editingterminal apparatus 16 in FIG. 1. A CPU (Central Processing Unit) 51 ofthe editing terminal apparatus 16 executes various processing accordingto a program stored in a ROM (Read Only Memory) 52. In a RAM (RandomAccess Memory) 53, data and programs required by the CPU 51 to executevarious processing are stored as necessary.

A clip data editing unit 54 controls an output unit 62 and causes it todisplay the GUI (Graphical User Interface) and so forth on the display,performs editing processing for image data, audio data, low resolutiondata, or metadata written on the optical disc 17 as a removable medium71 installed on a drive 65 or low resolution data obtained via acommunication unit 64 based on an operation input from the user acceptedby an input unit 61, generates information on editing contents orinformation on edited data, and supplies the generated information to anedit list editing unit 55. The clip data editing unit 54 performsnon-destructive editing processing without updating various data to beedited.

The edit list editing unit 55 generates an edit list, which isinformation on the editing result, based on various informationgenerated as a result of editing processing performed in the clip dataediting unit 54, and stores the generated edit list in a storage unit63. At this time, the edit list editing unit 55 generates the clipmetadata for the edit list, which is the clip metadata for the editlist, based on the clip metadata that is metadata on the clip to beedited and that need not be processed in real time, as will be describedlater. For example, the edit list editing unit 55 generates theconversion table of the non-continuous points of LTC (Linear Time Code)corresponding to the image data of an edited clip and the frame numbersbased on the conversion table included in the clip metadata on the clipto be edited and records the data as the edit list clip metadata.

The CPU 51, ROM 52, RAM 53, clip data editing unit 54, and edit listediting unit 55 are interconnected via a bus 56. An input/outputinterface 60 is also connected to this bus 56.

The input unit 61 including a keyboard and a mouse is connected to theinput/output interface 60, and the signal input to the input unit 61 isoutputted to the CPU 51. The output unit 62 including a display and aspeaker is also connected to the input/output interface 60.

The storage unit 63 including a hard disk, an EEPROM (ElectronicallyErasable and Programmable Read Only Memory), and so on, and thecommunication unit 64 communicating data with other apparatuses via thenetwork 12 are also connected to the input/output interface 60. Thedrive 65 is used to read data from, or write data to, the removablemedium 71 that is a recording medium such as a magnetic disk, an opticaldisc, a magneto optical disk, and a semiconductor memory.

Next, the optical disc 17 used by the editing terminal apparatus 16during editing processing and an example of the configuration of datawritten on the optical disc 17 will be described.

As the optical disc 17, various types of optical discs may be used, forexample, a DVD-RAM (Digital Versatile Disc—Random Access Memory), aDVD-R (DVD-Recordable), a DVD-RW (DVD ReWritable), a DVD+R(DVD+Recordable), a DVD+RW (DVD+ReWritable), a CD-R (CompactDisc—Recordable), a CD-RW (CD-ReWritable) or an MD (Mini Disc)(registered trademark).

As described above, a plurality of clip data including image data andaudio data are written by the imaging apparatus 14 onto the optical disc17 that is a recording medium, for example, as shown in FIG. 3A.

Referring to FIG. 3A, growth ring data 80 including audio growth ringdata 81, image growth ring data 82, low resolution growth ring data 83,and frame meta growth ring data 84 obtained from the imaging apparatus14 and corresponding to a predetermined time unit (for example, 2seconds) is written on the optical disc 17 continuously by one clip.Following the last growth ring data 80, clip metadata 91 correspondingto the clip is written and, after that, growth ring data and clipmetadata corresponding to other clips are written.

The audio growth ring data 81 and the image growth ring data 82 are datato be reproduced at the same time and corresponding to each other. Thatis, the audio growth ring data 81 is audio data corresponding to themoving image generated by reproducing the image growth ring data 82. Thelow resolution growth ring data 83 is data corresponding to the imagegrowth ring data 82 and is data whose reproducing time is the same asthat of the image growth ring data 82. That is, the low resolutiongrowth ring data 83 corresponds to a small image-sized moving imagegenerated by reducing the image size of the moving image generated byreproducing the image growth ring data 82. The frame meta growth ringdata 84 is composed of metadata added to the frames (one screen of imagedata) corresponding to the image growth ring data 82 (hereinafter calledframe metadata). That is, the frame meta growth ring data is composed ofmultiple frame metadata corresponding to all frames of the image growthring data 82.

Frame metadata is data that corresponds to an added frame and that mustbe processed in real time (real time metadata) when the image signal isreproduced. That is, frame metadata is, for example, an LTC that is atime code characterizing the image signal corresponding to the frameusing predetermined time information such as the date/time (year, month,day, hour, minute, second), user bit (UB: User Bit) indicating thesignal characteristics of the image signal of the frame, UMID, GPS(Global Positioning System) information indicating the position wherethe image is imaged by a video camera, an essence mark that isinformation on the contents of essence data of the image signal or audiosignal, ARIB (Association of Radio Industries and Businesses) metadata,and setting/control information on the video camera that imaged theimage.

The ARIB metadata is metadata standardized by ARIB and used with thestandard communication interface such as SDI (Serial Digital Interface).The setting/control information on the video camera is, for example,lens information on the iris control value, white balance/black balancemode, zooming of lens, and focus.

Therefore, the frame meta growth ring data 84 includes an LTC 85 that isframe time information using a time independent of the actual time (realtime) or the real time based on a predetermined time. This LTC 85, whichis the aggregate of LTCs added to the frames, includes LTCscorresponding to all frames of the image growth ring data 82 included inthe same growth ring data 80. When the audio growth ring data 81 and theimage growth ring data 82 are reproduced, the LTC is also reproducedwith them.

Data is recorded on the optical disc 17 spirally or concentrically fromthe inner side to the outer side. Therefore, on the optical disc 17, thegrowth ring data 80 including the audio data 81 and the image data 82corresponding to the same reproducing time and the corresponding lowresolution data 83 and frame meta data 84, is recorded sequentially inthe order in which imaged data is obtained, and the corresponding datais recorded (placed) in the physically-neighboring positions on theoptical disc 17. In this way, the optical disc 17 can reduce the seektime at data reproducing (at read processing time) and reduce theprocessing time and the load required for the processing.

Following the multiple units of growth ring data 80 recorded by oneclip, the clip metadata 91 is recorded.

The clip metadata 91, which is data corresponding to the all addedclips, is data that need not be processed in real time at the imagesignal reproducing (hereinafter called non-real-time metadata). That is,the clip metadata includes, for example, a conversion table 92 thatestablishes the correspondence between the LTCs corresponding to theframes and frame numbers and, in addition, UMID, GPS information, andother information. The clip metadata 91, primarily used for editing andsearching for audio data or image data, is usually composed of data thatis not required at the reproducing of image data.

The frame metadata and the clip metadata may include data other thanthat described above. The frame metadata and the clip metadata mayinclude the data of the same contents, the data of the frame metadatadescribed above may be used as the clip metadata and, conversely, thedata described above as the clip metadata may be used the framemetadata.

For example, the essence mark, ARIB metadata, or video camerasetting/control information may be used as the clip metadata or may beincluded in both the frame metadata and the clip metadata. The UMID andthe GPS information may be included in the frame metadata or may beincluded in both the frame metadata and the clip metadata.

Referring to FIG. 3A, the conversion table 92 included in the clipmetadata 91 is a table corresponding to the LTCs included in the growthring data from the first growth ring data or the growth ring datarecorded after the immediately preceding clip metadata to the growthring data recorded immediately before. Therefore, the conversion table92 is recorded somewhat nearer (as compared with FIG. 3B that will bedescribed later) to the audio growth ring data 81 and the image growthring data 82 corresponding to the conversion table 92.

The metadata included in the clip metadata 91 is metadata that need notbasically be processed in real time. However, when the user uses theconversion table 92 to instruct the reproducing of a particular frame,it is more advantageous to record the audio growth ring data 81 and theimage growth ring data 82 to be reproduced near the conversion table 92because the seek time can be reduced and the reading speed of the audiogrowth ring data 81 and the image growth ring data 82 can be increased.

The clip metadata may be collectively recorded in an area separate fromthe area in which growth ring data is stored as shown in FIG. 3B.Referring to FIG. 3B, in an area separate from the area in which thegrowth ring data 100-1 composed of the audio growth ring data 101-1,image growth ring data 102-1, low resolution growth ring data 103-1, andframe meta growth ring data 104-1 and the growth ring data 100-2composed of the audio growth ring data 101-2, image growth ring data102-2, low resolution growth ring data 103-2, and frame meta growth ringdata 104-2 are recorded, the clip metadata, such as the clip metadata111-1, clip metadata 111-2, and clip metadata 111-3, is recordedcollectively.

Each of the clip metadata 111-1 to 111-3 includes one of conversiontables 112-1 to 112-3. The start point, change point, and end point ofthe LTCs included in the corresponding frame meta growth ring data (thatis, a frame whose LTC values are discontinuous with the LTC values ofthe immediately preceding frame (or immediately following frame)) areregistered with those conversion tables 112-1 to 112-3.

Not only the values described above but also the LTCs may be registeredwith the conversion tables 112-1 to 112-3 at a predetermined interval.As more LTCs are registered with the conversion table, the time requiredto calculate the frame number of a request frame becomes shorter at aframe search time. However, an increase in the conversion table datasize may require a longer time in the whole search processing.Therefore, it is desirable that the LTCs used in the conversion table beselected so that the size of the conversion table is appropriate.

In this case, the clip metadata is recorded in an area separate from thegrowth ring data after the audio data recording task, image datarecording task, low resolution data recording task, and frame metadatarecording task are terminated.

Therefore, the conversion tables 112-1 to 112-3 included respectively inthe clip metadata 111-1 to 111-3 are recorded near each other.Therefore, when a specific frame is searched for using a plurality ofconversion tables, the seek time can be reduced and the intended framecan be searched for at high speed.

In addition, when reproducing audio data and image data, there is nounnecessary clip metadata for the reproducing between those data, andtherefore the read time can be reduced and the reproducing processingcan be performed quickly.

In addition, the clip metadata is composed of metadata that need not beprocessed in real time with no need for considering the seek time duringnormal processing. Therefore, the clip metadata may be arranged in anyphysical location in the storage area on the optical disc 17, forexample, one unit of clip metadata may be distributed among a pluralityof locations.

As described above, the LTCs are recorded as frame metadata inconjunction with the essence data composed of the audio data and theimage data and, in addition, the conversion table composed of the LTCstart point, change point, and end point is recorded as the clipmetadata. Therefore, when editing data recorded on the optical disc 17described above, the user can easily perform the editing processingbased on the LTCs and, at the same time, search for an intended frameusing the LTC and reproduce it.

Next, the file system for managing data recorded on the optical disc 17and the directory structure and the files of the file system will bedescribed.

Any file system may be used as a file system for managing data recordedon the optical disc 17, for example, UDF (Universal Disk Format) or ISO9660 (International Organization for Standardization 9660) may be used.When a magnetic disk such as a hard disk is used instead of the opticaldisc 17, FAT (File Allocation Tables), NTFS (New Technology FileSystem), HFS (Hierarchical File System), or UFS (Unix (registeredtrademark) File System) may be used as the file system. A special filesystem may also be used.

In this file system, the data recorded on the optical disc 17 is managedby the directory structure and the files such as those shown in FIG. 4.

In FIG. 4, the root directory (ROOT) 131 has the PROAV directory 132which has lower-level directories in which information on essence datasuch as image data and audio data, and an edit list indicating theediting result of the essence data are stored. Although not shown, theconfiguration table data is also stored under the root directory 131.

The PROAV directory 132 has a disc meta file (DISCMETA.XML) 133 that isa file containing the titles and comments for all essence data recordedon the optical disc 17 as well as information on the path to the imagedata corresponding to a representative image that is a representativeframe for all image data recorded on the optical disc 17, an index file(INDEX.XML) 134 that includes management information for managing allclips and edit lists recorded on the optical disc 17, and an index file(INDEX.RSV) 135. The index file 135 is a copy of the index file 134, andthe two files are prepared to increase reliability.

The PROAV directory 132 also has a disc information file (DISCINFO.XML)136 that contains information on the metadata on the whole data recordedon the optical disc 17, for example, information on the disc attribute,reproducing start position, or Reclnhi, and a disc information file(DISKINFO.RSV) 137. The disc information file 137 is a copy of the discinformation file 136, and the two files are prepared to increasereliability. To update the information, it is also possible to updateonly the disc information file 136.

In addition to the files described above, the PROAV directory 132 has aclip root directory (CLPR) 138 that has lower directories under whichclip data is stored and an edit list root directory (EDTR) 139 that haslower directories under which edit list data is stored.

In the clip root directory 138, the data of the clips recorded on theoptical disc 17 is managed in different directories according to theclips. For example, in FIG. 4, the data of three clips are managed inthree directories, such as a clip directory (C0001) 141, a clipdirectory (C0002) 142, and a clip directory (C0003) 143.

That is, the data of the first clip recorded on the optical disc 17 ismanaged as the file under the directory of the clip directory 141, thedata of the clip recorded for the second time on the optical disc 17 ismanaged as the file under the directory of the clip directory 142, andthe data of the clip recorded for the third time on the optical disc 17is managed as the file under the directory of the clip directory 143.

In the edit list root directory 139, the edit lists recorded on theoptical disc 17 are managed in different directories according to theediting processing. For example, in FIG. 4, four edit lists are managedin four directories, such as an edit list directory (E0001) 144, an editlist directory (E0002) 145, an edit list directory (E0003) 146, and anedit list directory (E0004) 147.

That is, the edit list indicating the first editing result of the cliprecorded on the optical disc 17 is managed as the file of the directoryunder the edit list directory 144, the edit list indicating the secondediting result is managed as the file of the directory under the editlist directory 145, the edit list indicating the third editing result ismanaged as the file of the directory under the edit list directory 146,and the edit list indicating the fourth editing result is managed as thefile of the directory under the edit list directory 147.

In the directory under the clip directory 141 provided in the clip rootdirectory 138 described above, the data of the clip recorded first onthe optical disc 17 is provided and managed as files such as those shownin FIG. 5.

Referring to FIG. 5, the following files are included in the clipdirectory 141, those are a clip information file (C0001C01.SMI) 151 thatis a file for managing this clip, an image data file (C0001V01.MXF) 152that is a file containing the image data of this clip, audio data files(C0001A01.MXF to C0001A08.MXF) 153 to 160 that are eight filescontaining the audio data of the channels of this clip respectively, alow resolution file (C0001S01.MXF) 161 that is a file containing the lowresolution data corresponding to the image data of this clip, and a clipmetadata file (C0001M01.XML) 162 that is a file containing clip metadatathat corresponds to the essence data of this clip and that need not beprocessed in real time, for example, the conversion table establishingthe correspondence between LTCs and frame numbers.

Also included in the clip directory 141 area frame metadata file(C0001R01.BIM) 163 corresponding to the essence data of this clip andincluding frame metadata that must be processed in real time such asLTCs and a picture pointer file (C0001I01.PPF) 164 in which the framestructure (for example, information on picture compression format inMPEG and information on offset addresses from the start of the file) ofthe image data file 152 is described.

Referring to FIG. 5, the image data, low resolution data, and framemetadata, which are data that must be processed in real time atreproducing time, are each managed as one file to prevent the read timefrom being increased.

The audio data must also be processed in real time when reproduced and,to realize the multi-channel processing of audio data such as 7.1channels, eight channels are provided and each is managed as a separatefile. That is, though the audio data is managed as eight files in theabove description, the number of files is not limited to eight but sevenor less or nine or more files may also be used for the audio data.

Similarly, the image data, low resolution data, and frame metadata mayalso be managed each as two or more files in some cases.

In FIG. 5, the clip metadata that need not be processed in real time ismanaged as a file different from frame metadata that must be processedin real time. This prevents metadata, which is not necessary during thenormal reproducing of image data, from being read and thus reduces theprocessing time of reproducing processing and the load required for theprocessing.

The clip metadata file 162 is described in the XML (extensible MarkupLanguage) format to increase versatility, while the frame metadata file163 is BiM in which XML-coded data is encoded in the binary format toreduce the processing time of reproducing processing and the loadrequired for the processing.

The BiM that is encoded in the binary format such as the frame metadatafile (C0001R01.BIM) 163 will be described later with reference to FIG. 7and the following figures.

The example of the configuration of the files in the clip directory 141shown in FIG. 5 can be applied to all clip directories corresponding tothe clips recorded on the optical disc 17. That is, the example of theconfiguration of the files shown in FIG. 5 can be also applied to theother clip directories 142 and 143 shown in FIG. 4 and therefore itsdescription is omitted.

The files included in the clip directories corresponding to one clip areas described above. The configuration of the files is not limited to theone described above. Any configuration may be used as long as the clipmetadata files corresponding to a clip are in the directories under eachclip directory.

Next, an example of the configuration of the files in the directoriesunder the edit list root directory 139 in FIG. 4 will be described. Inthe directories under the edit list directory 145 included in the editlist root directory 139 described above, the data of the edit list,which is information on the second editing result of the data of theclips recorded on the optical disc 17, is provided and managed as thefiles such as those shown in FIG. 6.

Referring to FIG. 6, the edit list directory 145 includes an edit listfile (E0002E01.SMI) 171 that is a file for managing the edit result(edit list), a clip metadata file (E0002M01.XML) 172 for the edit listthat is a file including clip data corresponding to the edited essencedata (portion of data extracted, as edited data, from the essence dataof all clips used in the editing) or clip metadata newly generated basedon the clip metadata, a play list file (E0002P01.SMI) 173 that is a fileincluding information on the reproducing procedure (play list) for theessence data based on the editing result (edit list), and a picturepointer file (C0001101.PPF) 174 for the play list that is a file inwhich the frame structure of the image data generated based on thereproducing procedure included in the play list file 173 (for example,information on the compression format for each picture in MPEG orinformation on the offset addresses from the start of the file) isdescribed.

The edit list directory 145 also includes an image data file(E0002V01.BMX) 175 for the play list that is a file including the imagedata for securing the real time reproducing based on the reproducingprocedure (play list) for the play list file 173, audio data files(E0002A01.BMX to E0002A04.BMX) 176 to 179 for the play list that arefour files including the audio data for securing the real timereproducing based on the reproducing procedure (play list) for the playlist file 173, a low resolution data file (E0002S01.BMX) 180 for theplay list that is a file including the low resolution data for securingthe real time reproducing based on the reproducing procedure (play list)for the play list file 173, and a frame metadata file (E0002R01.BBM) 181for the play list that is a file including the frame metadata forsecuring the real time reproducing based on the reproducing procedure(play list) for the play list file 173.

In FIG. 6, the clip metadata that need not be processed in real time ismanaged as a file different from that of the frame metadata that must beprocessed in real time. This prevents unnecessary metadata from beingread while the image data is reproduced (during the reproducing of theedited result) using the reproducing procedure (play list) and thusreduces the processing time of the reproducing processing and the loadrequired for the processing.

The clip metadata file 172 for the edit list is a file including newclip metadata generated based on the clip metadata of the clip used forediting (clip metadata file in the directory under the clip rootdirectory 138) based on the editing result. For example, when editing isperformed, the portion corresponding to the edited essence data isextracted from the clip metadata included in the clip metadata file 162in FIG. 5, and new clip metadata is reconfigured, with the editedessence data as one clip, using the extracted metadata and managed asthe clip metadata file for the edit list.

That is, new clip metadata is added to the edited essence data with theedited essence data as one clip, and the clip metadata is managed as aclip metadata file for one edit list. Therefore, this clip metadata filefor the edit list is generated each time editing is performed.

This clip metadata file 172 for the edit list is described in the XMLformat to ensure versatility.

The image data included in the image data file 175 for the play list,the audio data included in the audio data files 176 to 179 for the playlist, the low resolution data included in the low resolution data file180 for the play list, and the frame metadata included in the framemetadata file 181 for the play list are data extracted respectively fromthe image data, audio data, low resolution data, and frame metadatacorresponding to the clips managed in the directories under the cliproot directory 138 in FIG. 5 and are data corresponding to the editingresult.

These data are read when reproducing processing is performed based onthe reproducing procedure (play list) included in the play list file173. Preparing the data corresponding to the editing result reduces thenumber of files that are read during the reproducing processing based onthe play list and reduces the processing time and the load required forthe processing.

In some cases, the image data, low resolution data, and frame metadatamay be managed each as multiple files. Similarly, the number of filescorresponding to the audio data may be three or less or five or more.

The frame metadata file 181 for the play list is a BBM format filecorresponding to the BIM format generated by compiling the XML formatfile in order to reduce the processing time of the reproducingprocessing and the load required for the processing.

The example of the configuration of the files in the edit list directory145 shown in FIG. 6 can be applied to all edit lists (editing results).That is, the example of the configuration of the files shown in FIG. 6can be applied also to the other edit list directories 144, 146 or 147shown in FIG. 4 and therefore the description is omitted.

The files included in the edit list directory corresponding to oneediting work have been described above. The configuration of the filesis not limited to the one described above. Any configuration may be usedas long as the clip metadata file for the edit list corresponding to theediting is included in the directory under the edit list directory.

Next, the data included in the clip metadata will be described. Asdescribed above, the clip metadata includes the conversion table forconversion between LTCs and frame numbers, UMID, GPS information, andother information. Because this information is standardized informationthat may be stored in the frame metadata and is sometimes required to beprocessed in real time, the information is represented as KLV (KeyLength Value) encoded data (hereinafter called KLV data), composed ofkey data, length data, and value data, in order to secure synchronouscommunication using the standard interface such as SDI (Serial DigitalInterface). This format conforms to SMPTE 336M.

The key data of KLV data is an identifier indicating a KLV encoded dataitem. Identifiers defined in the SMTPE metadata dictionary andcorresponding various data items are used for this identifier. Thelength data of KLV data is data indicating the length of the value datain bytes. The value data of KLV data is data composed of data itselfsuch as text data as in an XML document. That is, KLV data is theencoded data of a data item indicated by the key data, whose length isindicated by the length data, and which is data indicated by the valuedata.

Although the conversion table and UMID are also one of KLV data inpractice as described above, the metadata included in the clip metadataother than the conversion table and UMID are called KLV data in thedescription below for the sake of simplicity.

The encoding method described above is an example of the encodingmethod, and the information included in the clip metadata may be encodedin a method other than the KLV encoding method or may not encoded.

Next, BiM that is compressed in the binary format as with the framemetadata file (C0001R01.BIM) 163 shown in FIG. 5 will be described. TheBiM encoder is required to compress XML-coded metadata to generate BiM,and the BiM decoder is required to decode BiM to interpret the contents.The editing terminal apparatus 16 has the BiM encoder and the BiMdecoder built in the clip data editing unit 54.

The BiM encoder has the schema definition document in which thedescription method for metadata, from which BIM is generated, isdefined. The BiM decoder also has the schema definition document, inwhich the description method for metadata from which BIM is generated,is defined. When the BiM encoder and the BiM decoder have the commonschema definition document, BiM generated by the BiM encoder can becompletely interpreted by the BiM decoder. In other words, when the BiMencoder generates BiM based on a non-standard, unique schema definitiondocument and the BiM decoder has only the standard schema definitiondocument, the BiM decoder interprets only the standard part included inBiM.

FIG. 7 shows an example of standard XML-coded real-time metadata beforebeing encoded by the BiM encoder into BiM. This standard real-timemetadata is composed of the Wrapper, which is composed of the standardname space identifier (in this example,“urn:schemas-proDisc:realTimeMeta”) that is the Root (first row), UMID(second row), and ECC alignment Filler (third row), and the descriptioncorresponding to each frame. The description corresponding to each frameis composed of the required items, which include byte alignmentBitfiller (fifth row), LTC (sixth row) UMID (seventh row) and KLV(eighth row), and the length-adjusting Filler (ninth row) for thefragment update unit (FUU) in BiM.

This standard real-time metadata before being encoded into BiM ischaracterized in that fillers are provided for ECC alignment, bytealignment, and FUU length adjustment. In particular, the metadata ischaracterized in that Bitfiller is provided to byte-align the boundaryof required items, including the LTC, UMID, and KLV, in the encoded BiM.

Next, FIG. 8 shows an example of non-standard XML-coded real-timemetadata before being encoded by the BiM encoder into BiM, that is, anexample of extended real-time metadata including the standard items aswell as items uniquely added by a manufacturer (for example, videocamera setting/control information, ARIB metadata, and so on)(hereinafter called unique item). This non-standard real-time metadatais composed of the Wrapper, which is composed of the non-standard namespace identifier (“urn:schemas-proDisc:realTimeMeta:cameraMeta” in thisexample) that is the Root (first row), UMID (second row), and ECCalignment Filler (third row), and the description corresponding to eachframe.

The description corresponding to each frame is composed of the requireditems, which include byte alignment Bitfiller corresponding to eachframe (fifth row), LTC (sixth row), UMID (seventh row), and KLV (eighthrow), the unique items (ninth to seventeenth row) composed of videocamera setting/control information, and the length-adjusting Filler(nineteenth row) for the fragment update unit (FUU) in BiM.

This non-standard real-time metadata before being encoded into BiM isalso characterized in that fillers are provided for ECC alignment, bytealignment, and FUU length adjustment. In particular, the metadata ischaracterized in that Bitfiller is provided to byte-align the boundaryof required items, including the LTC, UMID, and KLV, in the encoded BiM.

This non-standard real-time metadata, in which ARIB metadata and so onare described as unique items, is also described as in FIG. 8.

Next, the generation processing of BiM of standard real-time metadata,such as the one shown in FIG. 7, will be described with reference to theflowchart in FIG. 9. The clip data editing unit 54 describes a namespace identifier (in this example, “urn:schemas-proDisc:realTimeMeta”),defined in the standard schema, in the Wrapper in step S1 and describesthe UMID and the ECC alignment Filler in step S2. In step S3, the clipdata editing unit 54 describes the byte alignment Bitfiller at the startof data corresponding to each frame and, after that, describes therequired items including the LTC, UMID, and KLV. In step S4, the clipdata editing unit 54 adds the length adjusting Filler for the fragmentupdate unit in BiM to the end of the required items, describes thestandard real-time metadata and, in step S5, compresses the metadatainto the binary format using the built-in BiM encoder to generate thestandard BiM.

Next, the generation processing of BiM of non-standard real-timemetadata, such as the one shown in FIG. 8, will be described withreference to the flowchart in FIG. 10. The clip data editing unit 54describes a name space identifier (in this example,“urn:schemas-proDisc:realTimeMeta:cameraMeta”), defined in themanufacturer's unique non-standard schema in advance, in the Wrapper instep S11 and describes the UMID and the ECC alignment Filler in stepS12. In step S13, the clip data editing unit 54 describes the bytealignment Bitfiller at the start of data corresponding to each frameand, after that, describes the required items including the LTC, UMID,and KLV. In step S14, the clip data editing unit 54 describes the uniqueitems (in this example, video camera setting/control information). Instep S15, the clip data editing unit 54 adds the length adjusting Fillerfor the fragment update unit in BiM to the end of the unique items,describes the non-standard real-time metadata and, in step S16,compresses the metadata into the binary format using the built-in BiMencoder to generate the non-standard BiM.

As described above, the boundary of the required items including theLTC, UMID, and KLV in BiM is byte-aligned when real-time metadata isencoded in the binary format and BiM is generated. Therefore, when BiMgenerated in this way is read, the position in which the required itemsare described can be found quickly. Therefore, as compared with a casein which the boundary of the required items is not byte-aligned, thetime required for reading BiM can be reduced and the amount of resourcesto be used can be reduced.

In the above description, real-time metadata is once described in XMLand, after that, converted to the binary format using the BiM encoder.It is also possible to omit the description of metadata in XML and todirectly output BiM data by acquiring the schema-based binary format inadvance.

Next, the processing in which the BiM of real-time metadata is read atthe same time the clip data is reproduced will be described. In stepS21, the clip data editing unit 54 reads the name space identifierdescribed in the Wrapper of BiM by using the built-in BiM decoder andchecks if the name space identifier that is read is already defined inits own schema in step S22. If it is found that the identifier isalready defined in its own schema, the processing goes to step S23.

The clip data editing unit 54 recognizes the required items included inBiM as effective data in step S23 and, in addition, recognizes theunique items as effective data in step S24. In step S25, the clip dataediting unit 54 removes Filler from BiM and then uses the datarecognized as effective (in this example, required item and unique itemdata) in the editing processing. This allows the data, recognized aseffective, to be displayed on the screen.

On the other hand, if the name space identifier that is read is, forexample, “urn:schemas-proDisc:realTimeMeta:cameraMeta” and its ownschema is standard in step S22, the name space identifier that is readis judged as the one not defined in its own schema and the processinggoes to step S26.

The clip data editing unit 54 recognizes the required items included inBiM as effective data in step S26 and recognizes the unique items asineffective data, that is, as data not recognizable by the editing unit(more specifically, recognized as filler not having significant meaning)in step S27. The clip data editing unit 54 removes Filler from BiM instep S25 and, after that, uses the data recognized as effective (onlydata of the required items in this example) in the editing processing.This allows the data, recognized as effective, to be displayed on thescreen. At this time, the unique items, which are recognized asineffective data (that is, Filler), are not displayed on the screen. Inthis case, the method prevents the presence of the data of the uniqueitems of a manufacturer from being recognized by the apparatus of someother manufacturer and therefore preserves the secret of the uniqueitems and prevents the data of the unique items from being analyzed.

Conversely, to allow the presence of the data of unique items,recognized as ineffective, to be discovered, some character string (forexample, a sequence of 0s) may be displayed.

For example, when real-time metadata not encoded in BiM is read at thesame time clip data is reproduced, the same processing can also beperformed to read only data recognizable by, but not dataunrecognizable, by the editing unit. However, at present, there is noreal-time metadata that is not encoded in BiM.

The method for processing real-time metadata using the BiM encoder hasbeen described. For example, if the schema is designed such that thebyte offset from the specified position of the required items inBiM-technology-based data is constant regardless of whether the schemais standard or non-standard, it is also possible to directly readrequired items without using the BiM decoder.

Next, how the clip data editing unit 54 handles non-real-time metadatawill be described. As described above, the conversion table 92, UMID,GPS information, and other information are described in the clipmetadata 91, which is one type of non-real-time metadata, using XML.

As with real-time metadata described above, non-real-time metadata canalso include the data of the required items recorded as standard itemsas well as data unique to a manufacturer. This is described in the namespace defined in the manufacturer's unique schema defined in advance.

Next, the read processing of non-real-time metadata including uniqueitems, which are used in the clip data editing processing, will bedescribed with reference to the flowchart in FIG. 12.

The clip data editing unit 54 reads the name space identifier ofnon-real-time metadata in step S31 and recognizes the required items,which are included in the non-real-time metadata and described in thestandard name space, as effective data in step S32.

The clip data editing unit 54 checks if a non-standard name space (thatis, non-standard name space unique to a manufacturer) is detected instep S33. If it is found that a nonstandard name space is detected, theclip data editing unit 54 checks if the detected non-standard name spaceis recognizable in step S34. If it is found that the detectednon-standard name space is recognizable, the processing goes to stepS35. In step S35, the clip data editing unit 54 recognizes the uniqueitems, described in the non-standard name space, as effective data.

Conversely, if it is found that the detected non-standard name space isnot recognizable in step S34, the processing goes to step S36. In stepS36, the clip data editing unit 54 recognizes the unique items,described in the non-standard name space, as ineffective data.

In step S37, the clip data editing unit 54 reads the data, recognized aseffective, and skips the data recognized as ineffective. The data thatis read is used in the clip data editing processing. After that, theprocessing returns to step S32 and the subsequent processing isrepeated.

If it is found that a non-standard name space is not detected in stepS33, the processing from steps S34 to S36 is skipped and the processinggoes to step S37.

As described above, when non-real-time metadata is read for use in theclip data editing processing, the data of only the unique items definedin the schema and identified by the editing unit is read but the data ofthe unique items not defined in the schema, for example, the data of theunique items of some other manufacturer is not read but ignored.Therefore, the non-real-time metadata that is read can be usedefficiently.

Next, the processing in which non-real-time metadata itself, includingunique items, is edited and rewritten on the optical disc 17 ortransferred to another apparatus will be described with reference to theflowchart in FIG. 13.

The clip data editing unit 54 reads the name space identifier of theunique items in the non-real-time metadata in step S41 and checks if thename space identifier that is read is defined in its own schema in stepS42. If it is found that the name space identifier that is read isdefined in its own schema, the processing goes to step S43.

A clip data editing unit 44 recognizes the required items included inthe non-real-time metadata as effective data in step S43 and, inaddition, recognizes the unique items as effective data in step S44. Instep S45, the clip data editing unit 54 reads the data recognized aseffective (in this example, data of both required items and uniqueitems) and data recognized as ineffective. Instep S46, the clip dataediting unit 44 edits only the data, which is read and recognized aseffective, as necessary, for example, in response to a user operation.The processing of step S46 may be omitted.

The clip data editing unit 44 does not discard the data, which is readin step S45 and is recognized as ineffective, but rewrites the data onthe optical disc 17 or transfers the data to another apparatus in stepS47 with the data, recognized as effective, that is edited as necessaryin step S46.

Conversely, if it is found that the name space identifier that is readis not defined in its own schema instep S42, the processing goes to stepS48. The clip data editing unit 54 recognizes the required itemsincluded in the non-real-time metadata as effective data in step S48 andrecognizes the unique items as ineffective data in step S49. In stepS45, the clip data editing unit 54 reads the data recognized aseffective (in this example, required item data) and the data recognizedas ineffective (in this example, unique item data). After that, theprocessing of step S45 and the following steps is performed as describedabove.

As described above, when non-real-time metadata itself is edited, thedata of unique items not defined in the schema, for example, the data ofthe unique items of some other manufacturer, is not edited. In addition,when the data is rewritten or transferred, the data not defined in theschema, for example, the data of unique items of some other manufactureris rewritten or transferred with the data of the required items or withthe data of unique items defined in the schema and identified.Therefore, the data of unique items not identified by the editing unitcan be protected without deleting or changing the information.

The recording of data such as image data, audio data, low resolutiondata, frame metadata, clip metadata, and edit lists onto an optical discis described above. The recording medium for recording the data is notlimited to an optical disc. For example, the data may be written on amagnetic disk such as a flexible disk or a hard disk, a magnetic tape,or a semiconductor memory such as a flash memory.

In the above description, editing is performed on the editing terminalapparatus 16. However, the information processing apparatus on whichediting is performed is not limited to this apparatus. For example, theapparatus may be the planning terminal apparatus 11, imaging apparatus14, or field PC 15 in FIG. 1 or may be some other information processingapparatus.

The sequence of processing described above may be executed by hardwareor by software as described above. When the sequence of processing isexecuted by software, the software is installed from a recording mediumto a computer in which the programs constituting the software are builtin special hardware or to a computer, such as a general-purpose personalcomputer, that can execute various functions by installing variousprograms therein.

The recording medium is configured not only by the removable medium 71,provided separately from the editing terminal apparatus 16 as shown inFIG. 2, that includes a package medium, for example, a package mediumsuch as a magnetic disk (including a flexible disk), an optical disc(including a CD-ROM, DVD, magneto-optical disk, and MD), or asemiconductor memory which is distributed to the user to provide theuser with a program and on which a program is recorded but also by adevice which is built in the computer when provided to the user and inwhich the program is stored, such as the ROM 52 or a hard disk in whichthe storage unit 63 is included.

In this specification, the steps describing the program provided by amedium includes processing executed on a time-series basis according tothe described sequence as well as processing executed not always on atime-series basis but in parallel or individually.

In this specification, the system refers to the whole apparatuscomprising a plurality of apparatuses.

1. An information processing apparatus for reproducing metadataincluding information on material data in a storage medium, saidinformation processing apparatus comprising: a processor; and a memoryto store instructions which, when executed by the processor, causes theprocessor to control: determination means for determining whethermetadata includes standard name space or non-standard name space, thestandard name space being name space that is defined in advance; clipdata editing means for detecting whether a non-standard name spacedetermined by the determination means is recognizable, and if a detectednon-standard name space is recognizable, then clip data editing meansrecognizes the unique items, described in the non-standard name space,as effective data, and if a detected non-standard name space is notrecognizable, then the clip data editing means recognizes the uniqueitems, described in the non-standard name space, as ineffective data,wherein the editing means reads the data, recognized as effective, andskips the data recognized as ineffective, and edits only the effectivedata, wherein the effective data and the ineffective data are items thatcompose a description corresponding to each frame; reproducing means forreproducing the ineffective data with the edited effective data, whereinsaid reproducing means to read data from, or write data to a removablenon-transitory storage medium; and control means for transferring theineffective data with the edited effective data.
 2. The informationprocessing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said metadata isdescribed using XML (extensible markup language).
 3. The informationprocessing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said determinationmeans determines whether an item included in the metadata is thestandard name space defined in advance based on whether a name spaceidentifier described in the metadata is defined in a schema owned bysaid information processing apparatus.
 4. The information processingapparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said metadata is non-real-timemetadata that is not required to be read at the same time with thereproduction of the material data.
 5. An information processing methodfor reproducing metadata including information on material data in astorage medium, said information processing method comprising: adetermination step, performed by a processor, for determining whethermetadata includes standard name space or non-standard name space, thestandard name space being name space that is defined in advance; anediting step for checking whether a non-standard name space determinedby the determination step is recognizable, and if a detectednon-standard name space is recognizable, then editing step recognizesthe unique items, described in the non-standard name space, as effectivedata, and if a detected non-standard name space is not recognizable,then the editing step recognizes the unique items, described in thenon-standard name space, as ineffective data, wherein the editing stepreads the data, recognized as effective, and skips the data recognizedas ineffective, and edits only the effective data, wherein the effectivedata and the ineffective data are items that compose a descriptioncorresponding to each frame; a reproducing step for reproducing theineffective data with the edited effective data, wherein saidreproducing step reads data from, or writes data to a removablenon-transitory medium; and a control step for transferring theineffective data with the edited effective data.
 6. A non-transitoryrecording medium for storing a program that when executed causes acomputer to reproduce metadata including information on material data,by a method executed by said program comprising: a determination step,performed by a processor, for determining whether metadata includesstandard name space or non-standard name space, the standard name spacebeing name space that is defined in advance; an editing step forchecking whether a non-standard name space determined by thedetermination step is recognizable, and if a detected non-standard namespace is recognizable, then editing step recognizes the unique items,described in the non-standard name space, as effective data, and if adetected non-standard name space is not recognizable, then the editingstep recognizes the unique items, described in the non-standard namespace, as ineffective data, wherein the editing step reads the data,recognized as effective, and skips the data recognized as ineffective,and edits only the effective data, wherein the effective data and theineffective data are items that compose a description corresponding toeach frame; a reproducing step for reproducing the ineffective data withthe edited effective data, wherein said reproducing step reads datafrom, or writes data to a removable non-transitory medium; and a controlstep for transferring the ineffective data with the edited effectivedata.
 7. A program recorded on a non-transitory recording medium forreproducing metadata including information on material data, causing aprocessor to perform a method executed by said program comprising: adetermination step, performed by the processor, for determining whethermetadata includes standard name space or non-standard name space, thestandard name space being name space that is defined in advance; anediting step for checking whether a non-standard name space determinedby the determination step is recognizable, and if a detectednon-standard name space is recognizable, then editing step recognizesthe unique items, described in the non-standard name space, as effectivedata, and if a detected non-standard name space is not recognizable,then the editing step recognizes the unique items, described in thenon-standard name space, as ineffective data, wherein the editing stepreads the data, recognized as effective, and skips the data recognizedas ineffective, and edits only the effective data, wherein the effectivedata and the ineffective data are items that compose a descriptioncorresponding to each frame; a reproducing step for reproducing theineffective data with the edited effective data, wherein saidreproducing step reads data from, or writes data to a removablenon-transitory medium; and a control step for transferring theineffective data with the edited effective data.